1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a metal fitting cleaner. More specifically, the invention is a metal fitting cleaner including a plurality of detachably-mounted, independently-driven brushes of different sizes controlled by pressure-sensitive actuators, thereby providing a portable, easy-to-use device for preparing fittings of different sizes for welding. Among the advantages of the independent brush operation are that, while any one brush is in use, the other brushes do not rotate near the user's hand. The cleaner is preferably powered by a removable battery that can be recharged.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Copper pipe and other fittings used in plumbing are often welded together to form conduits. Since surface impurities or oxide films impede the ability of such pipes and fittings to form strong welds, it is considered good practice to thoroughly clean the surfaces of pipes and fittings to be welded, such as by scouring the surfaces with metal brushes. Brushes of different sizes and configurations are required to scour different fittings.
Various proposals have been made to combine brushes of different sizes in a single cleaning device for the convenience of a user. For example, Romens et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,067,443 proposed a lightweight fitting cleaning machine having a base for an electric motor including a first shaft engaged through a coupling with a second shaft for rotating a wire brush. The second shaft carried an eccentric cam which operated to move a yoke with a reciprocal movement. The yoke supported a rack engaged with gears which were in turn fixed to shafts so as to impart reciprocal movement to two other wire brushes. Thus, although it is believed that only one wire brush would be used at a time, all three wire brushes were engaged in pivotable movement about parallel axes whenever the machine was operating. This increased the power required to operate the machine, which, in turn, increased the size of the motor required for its operation.
Prins U.S. Pat. No. 3,000,026 and Zabransky U.S. Pat. No. 3,027,688 proposed other machines combining brushes of different sizes for scouring fittings. In both Prins et al. and Zabransky, bulky chain drives were provided to allow single motors to drive all of the brushes simultaneously, even though it appears that only one brush was to be used at a time.
Meadows et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,158,246 proposed a hand-held, portable, cordless scrubber which incorporated counter-rotating, scrubbing brushes detachably mounted on counter-rotating, concentric shafts. The scrubber housing provided a pocket with a detachable cover for receiving a battery pack which could be recharged by direct plugging into an ordinary AC household receptacle. Both finger actuated, handle-mounted switch and brush actuated switch arrangements were proposed. Both of the concentric, counter-rotating brushes appear to have been driven by a single motor and no provision appears to have been made for independently-driven brushes of different sizes or configurations.
It is undesirable to have unused brushes rotating near the user's hand. Therefore, there remains a need in the art for a portable, easy-to-use metal fitting cleaner which conserves power and avoids unnecessary exposure of the user's hands by driving only those brushes needed for a particular scouring operation.